A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Pill Bittersweet
by CrazyCabernet
Summary: As Bert heads home for the night, he's got an odd feeling of being watched, but writes it off as a trick of the mind. After all, he's had a long day. Now, if only Mary would make it easier to stop thinking about her all the time by not hanging around on his rooftop and taking quick peeks into his bedroom window before she heads off into the night.


**AN: As some of my followers and other regular readers might know already from an AN in one of my other stories, I saw Mary Poppins several months ago and found it to be completely EPIC, especially when Bert gets up on the ceiling. However, this only came to me just now because the movie is on TV right now, and Dick van Dyke is up on the screen doin' his thang, and Julie Andrews is...WELL, you've all seen the movie at some point or another, I'm sure! XD **

**Anyway, I'll just shut up now and let all you lovely people read, and I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I have absolutely no claim to the movie or the musical, Bert and Mary belong to their owner(s) who do(es) not entail or include me. XP**

**OH, ONE MORE THING! There are at least two direct references to the musical in here, one of which is some lyrics from my favorite song in the whole show (I've already told you what song that is without directly saying that it's my favorite, just go back over the first paragraph of this AN and pay close attention to what I say about its epicness), and the other reference is a piece of dialogue from the end of the first act. It's only two words of dialogue, but IT'S STILL DIRECTLY PULLED AND IT'S THERE, SO LOOK FOR IT AND THE SONG REFERENCE AND ANYONE WHO FINDS THEM WILL GET MAJOR POINTS!  
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**Okay, I'm shutting up for reals this time, I promise! XD XP  
**

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As he moved across the rooftops, stopping only on the ones whose chimneys were inactive and staying only long enough to do his job before continuing on his way, Bert could only think of one thing. Well, actually, it was one person, but that wasn't the important thing about it. As he was about to put his broom down into the next chimney, he thought he saw something in his peripheral vision and stopped, lifting his head as he squinted up at the night sky.

He blinked and shook himself out of it, straightening up as he took his cap off and ran a hand through his hair, then propped the broom up against the chimney, pulling a dirty handkercheif out of his coat pocket and wiping some of the soot and grim off his face before putting his cap firmly back onto his head. He laughed, though it was slightly uneasy, even to his own ears.

"Just me eyes playin' tricks on me," he muttered to himself. "Just 'cause I'm tired. S'been a long day, that's all. Nothin' there, just me imagination." He decided to do this chimney, then call it a night. Maybe stop by and see how Uncle Albert was doing, then head on home and get to bed.

So he cleaned the chimney, then headed for Albert's, but the windows were dark when he got there, so he decided not to bother the old man and just went straight on home for the night. He unlocked the front door, then paused with his hand resting on the knob. He looked around, having the strangest feeling that he was being watched.

After a few moments had passed without any signs of life aside from himself, he dismissed it as another trick of the mind caused by his exhaustion from the busy day he'd had traipsing around London doing this-and-that and his typical odd jobs and such that he always did before taking to the rooftops with his brushes, brooms, and rods when the sun began to sink below the horizon. His hand went back to the doorknob and he pushed it open.

Little did he know that he was, in fact, being watched by a figure perched silently atop his own chimney. One leg crossed over the other, one hand resting on the knee of the top leg while the other held onto her umbrella, Mary Poppins gazed down and watched the top of Bert's head disappear across the threshold and into the house.

She waited until she heard the door close, then left her carpet bag sitting next to the chimney as she moved towards the back of the roof and stood there, waiting patiently for a light to come on in the only upstairs window that was on the back of the house.

After it had come on and gone back out again, she waited only another moment or two, knowing that it rarely took him longer than that to fall asleep. She watched the seconds tick away on her pocket watch, then put it back in her pocket after two minutes had passed and went back over to the chimney.

She picked up her carpet bag, then returned to the back of the roof, opening her umbrella and stepping off the edge. She hovered in front of the window for a few brief moments, feeling oddly at ease from seeing the peaceful look on Bert's face as he slept. "Goodbye, Bert," she whispered to the night air. "Sleep well and happy dreams."

Bert opened his eyes drowsily and smiled. "G'night, Mary," he muttered. "Safe travels, an' come back soon, love."

_"Sleep, now," _he thought. _"Don't wanna be tired when I takes Jane an' Michael to see ol' Mrs. Corry t'morrow."_

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**AN: Soooo, what'd you guys think, huh? OMG, I felt so sorry for Bert throughout the whole thing because it was just so obvious he had THE biggest crush on her, and he kept trying to get a kiss on the cheek from her, and she kept not doing it, but it was so adorable watching him interact with her and try to get that kiss, and I was like, "Oh, for the love of God, put the poor man out of his misery and kiss him already, please!" And then at the end, when he was all sad she was leaving, SHE FINALLY KISSED HIM, and he looked up, and I will NEVER forget the way his face lit up, it was absolutely THE most ADORABLE thing, and I was just like, "Aaaaaawwwwwww!" I was SO thrilled to shreds that he'd finally gotten his kiss, I was just so happy for him!  
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***finally stops to breathe*  
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**So anyway, yeah. Hoped you guys liked this, please tell me your thoughts on it, I'm always open to CC!  
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**Much love and happy belated Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it!  
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**xoxo,  
Maggie  
the Mad Majesty of Muchness  
**


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